Host homebuyers' workshops in marginalized communities, broker advises peers
At a recent gathering of Association of Independent Mortgage Experts members, broker Whitley Cooper (pictured) threw down the gauntlet. Speaking to fellow brokers, she advised them on how to truly make a difference in their communities.
During the panel discussion titled “Building Bridges: Why Diversity Matters,” she asked for a show of hands from fellow brokers who had staged homebuyers’ workshops. To be sure, nearly everyone raised their hand.
But then, she threw them a curve ball: “Take those workshops that you’re doing and don’t just target the luxury realtors, the more affluent communities,” she said. “Take those into more diverse communities or the underserved communities where that information, education truly and really is needed so that they all could have the resources to be able to accomplish homeownership as well.”
Her comments came during AIME’s recent Fuse convention in Las Vegas that was attended by more than 3,000 industry workers. The three-day event was anchored with the theme that “brokers are better,” with each panel discussion, breakout session and keynote address emphasizing the point in some manner.
“I understand that it can be uncomfortable or may feel awkward to go to a community that’s not like yours,” she continued. “We all know realtors in our community that work with certain demographics. Reach out to them to host a homebuyer’s workshop or open house together, and that can help you tap into different communities that you’re not a part of – underserved communities that need our help.”
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Cooper doesn’t limit her advocacy to annual sessions. A successful mortgage loan originator at Amerifund Home Loans, serves as AIME’s chairperson of the Black Homeownership Committee. As she shared with MPA in a June interview, Cooper was all but genetically predisposed to enter the mortgage industry growing up with a mom who was a real estate broker. After a brief stint in broadcast journalism, she returned to mortgage where she is now happily ensconced.
As described in her AIME bio, Cooper is dedicated to serving her community by ensuring borrowers know they have options and understand there is always a path to homeownership. “Whitley is passionate about empowering people to build sustainable wealth through homeownership that will last for many generations,” the bio reads.
At the Fuse conference, she showed she not only talks the talk but walks the walk.
“There are people that do really want to do something but don’t know what to do,” she told MPA after her talk. “I did get a lot of feedback afterward from brokers, specifically Caucasian brokers that were saying ‘I really want to be a part of this and really want to help. Thank you for sharing the information so I can help too.”
She credited her mother with providing her with an example early on in terms of helping those outside the mainstream achieve homeownership: “I’ve always grown up around this industry,” she said. “My mom has always been a pillar for our community as well. That has always been an example to have it instilled to want to help people so we can all do better. If you have the knowledge and expertise, share it so that others can grow and prosper as well.”
Even if not guided by a sense of justice in helping achieve homeownership parity, it is important for brokers to take a good, hard look at the Black population with its abundance of would-be homeowners in the midst, she suggested.
“There are so many – not so many, there are millions – of Black Americans who are qualified and ready to purchase a home right now,” she said. “They just do not know it. So if you tap into that market, you have homebuyer-ready people.”
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Some Black borrowers may have been rejected for loans at a bank, but brokers are able to help, she said: “They’ve either gone to a bank and they could’ve been turned down because the bank has certain overlays,” she said. “But we know as mortgage brokers we have more flexibility and more options to where the loan comes across our desk.
“So yes, there are challenges and difficulties with some borrowers like there are in any community,” she continued. “In the Black community, we do have specific hurdles we need to overcome but with the right help, it is attainable.”
While AIME already has robust programs aimed at benefiting minority communities, Cooper hinted at even more bolstered resources toward that goal are in the offing: “I take all the feedback I have received and AIME has received seriously,” she began. “We are working on putting informational resources out to brokers that can help them to accomplish that,” she said of bolstering Black homeownership. “I can’t share all the information yet, but we are putting things in place to get resources to brokers so they can make it happen in their own communities. We’re really putting something professional and tangible together to help brokers.”
